New law to protect Joshua trees from climate change imposes fees on desert developers
California has enacted the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act, the first law aimed at helping to ensure the survival of millions of the climate-threatened trees while accommodating booming renewable energy and housing projects across their ancient Mojave Desert domain.
Now, residents and business owners in sunny desert boomtowns thick with the spindly trees are struggling to understand how the legislation signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday will affect them.
The new law, which took effect July 1, prohibits unpermitted killing or removal of the trees, tasks state wildlife authorities with developing and implementing a conservation plan for the species by 2024, and creates a fund to acquire and manage suitable habitat.
It authorizes the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to permit
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